The mobile telephone industry has been associated with tremendous growth over the last several years. The number of consumers utilizing mobile devices (e.g., mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), any suitable user equipment for communication, and the like) has increased sharply, making the mobile industry a large consumer driven market, and consequently leading to competition amongst mobile service providers. One factor distinguishing the services of competing providers has been technical capabilities associated with a device. For instance, today's mobile devices have progressed in technical capabilities to a point where many can be utilized as full-service computing mechanisms. For example, applications such as word processing software, web browsing software, electronic mail software, accounting software, and various other types of software are typical on modern devices. The gap between traditional computing mechanisms and mobile communication devices has lessened with the introduction of such applications.
The advent of computing applications integrated onto mobile devices led naturally to further bridging a gap between such devices and capabilities traditional to networked personal computers (PCs). Along similar lines, networked computers began developing characteristics traditionally associated with mobile communication devices, specifically, a capability to exchange high quality voice communication, worldwide. The technology supporting voice exchange between computers integrated via fixed internet protocol (IP) networks became known as voice over internet protocol (VoIP). Moreover, the addition of wireless routing technologies with fixed IP networks enabled small, hand-held devices to carry VoIP exchange with other devices. Not long after, communication devices incorporated a dual capability to access both fixed IP networks (sometimes termed fixed IP access networks, collectively) and mobile networks (sometimes termed wireless access networks, collectively).
The trend toward integration of wireless access and fixed IP access capabilities in a single portable device has been termed the ‘fixed/mobile convergence’. In essence, the fixed/mobile convergence has led to a rapid change in the communication industry as different communication architectures incorporate capabilities traditionally associated with others so that their services do not become technologically obsolete. However, some distinctions still remain amongst the disparate communication architectures, for example, in regard to network access and communication qualities of service.
A wireless access network can provide quality of service (QoS) parameters for communication through “roaming” agreements. Roaming among wireless access networks occurs when a device having a subscription with a first wireless access provider accesses and uses facilities of a second wireless access provider. The second provider has no existing agreement associated with the device, but can provide communication services to the device based on an agreement between the two providers instead. Consequently, a wireless access device can carry its service subscription information across access points, networks and even operator domains. A fixed IP access network can provide quality of service (QoS) capabilities for communication related to a fixed access billing account. Users deciding to use the access point can therefore receive such qualities of service specified in the fixed access billing account. As with most things related to fixed/mobile convergence, however, some of the remaining distinctions between fixed IP access and wireless access networks have also begun to fade as providers continue to compete for shares of the mobile communication market.